Pine Wood Derby!!!!

Saturday was the much anticipated Pine Wood Derby for our Cub Scout Pack. The boys have been working on their cars for a month now.

For those not familiar with it, here's what happens...

Your little guy is given a car kit. It contains a block of wood, some wheels, and nails to put the wheels on.

Great thought goes into what the car should look like. There is usually consultation with Dad and friends.

Once the design is decided, the block is taken to a helpful grown-up for cutting. This is a very tense time, requiring close supervision and inspection...

Well done, Mr. Brown!! Thank you!

After a little sanding, comes the very important weigh-in. The cars need to be as close to 5 oz. as possible.

Hmmm... 2.5 oz.... we're going to have to add some weights!!

Race Day!!!

The car is painted, weighted, and all weighed in. We're ready to roll!!

He took 4th place in the Bear Cub group.

Great job, buddy!!

Pinkalicious!!

Saturday night, Becca had her first slumber party. It wasn't her birthday, it was just one of those things that evolved. She and I decided just for fun we'd make it a Pinkalicious night!

Everyone wore pink, brought pink jammies, and went through about 264 wardrobe changes, almost all in the shade of pink!!

We started out by reading the book Pinkalicious. (the link code overrode the pink text. bummer.)

Next, it was time to do nails, hair, and make-up.

We made pink cupcakes, of course!

Any food that could be made pink, without being gross, was made pink. We had pink kettle corn for a snack (popped in microwave, opened bag, poured in pink sugar, sealed bag, and shook it up.)

We made pink Mac and Cheese (added 2 drops of food coloring to a batch of Kraft White Cheddar), had strawberry applesauce, and even had a strawberry vinaigrette for the salad eaters in the bunch. Beverage choices were Cherry 7Up, White Cranberry Strawberry juice, and strawberry milk. Yum.

A good toothbrushing was definitely in order!!

And they were all snuggled in bed and drifting off to sleep by 9:30!!!

We had a great time!!

Fabulous Friday Night!

In general, we are low-key kinda people. But, wow, did we have a fun weekend! My friend Monica was planning a date night for Friday and discovered that John Legend was hosting an "after party" for his concert in Austin at a club called Speakeasy. Monica got it in her head that she and her husband were going (even though it was sold out), and we were coming with them. In about 2 hours, Monica had arranged a table in front by the stage!!

So we went out for an amazing dinner at Perry's. We got to Speakeasy at 9:00. John Legend was supposed to arrive at 11:00, but we figured he'd be a bit later than that.

We hung out on the rooftop terrace...

and, in a very uncharacteristic move (and great lapse of judgement)...

...did shots of Patrón.

We listened to James Kinney while we waited. He was amazing! All of us are fans of his now.

They kept telling us John Legend was on his way, that he was in the building, etc. Then we found out - at 1:30 - that he was in the back room of the club! We'd had this great table all night right by the stage, and it turns out he played in the OTHER ROOM!! Arg!!! We went back there and saw him from very far away, and for only about 5 minutes before he left. Bummer, dude. But you know what? We had a GREAT night anyway!!

So, here are my very grainy photos of him that I took while holding my camera up over my head and shooting over the crowd in a very dark club.

He's on the right. And yes, he's very cute.

We got home about 3:00 am!! Party people!!

I honestly cannot remember the last time we were out so late!

We still got it! (although this party girl required quite a nap the next day!)

Inauguration Day

What an exciting day!!! We have a new president.

photo by: upi/newscom

You may have already heard this pointed out today, but a peaceful change of government leadership is not the norm throughout the world.

photo by: Rick Wilking / Reuters

Just think back to the elections in Kenya last year, where scores of people died in riots after the election.

Which is why I have loved seeing the pictures from Kenya today. The people of Kenya have been so excited about Barack Obama becoming president - seeing the son of a Kenyan become president of the United States has brought so much excitement to that country!

Photo by: Jahi Chikwendiu/Washington Post

Photo by: Thomas Mukoya / Reuters

Photo by: Tony Karumba / AFP / Getty Images

My friend Diana travels through Nairobi, Kenya on her way to Rwanda several times a year. She said that when she went through in late November, there was "Obama mania".

Barack Obama came to our town almost a year ago and our whole family went to go see him. We were fairly far back in the crowd, so you can't see him in the photos, but we could see him pretty well.

It was a great night, and the kids were actually excited to see Barack Obama. He gave a great speech, but there's limited time kids will listen to any speech - no matter how good it is. Eventually they decided they'd rather watch Wonder Pets on my iPod. No matter your political leaning, please take time to pray for our new president and all of our leaders. Our country is in a difficult time, and they will be making many critical decisions over the next 4 years. Pray for their wisdom and discernment during this time.

God Bless the United States of America!

Polar Bear Swim 2009

photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridapfe/2276021343/


Thought I'd share some photos of our Polar Bear Swim from last weekend.

Granted, a Polar Bear Swim in south Texas is very different from say... Canada, but by the end the kids were shivering and their lips were bluish so we think it counts.

We went to stay with our very dear friends who are in the final phase of installing their pool, and this was the first time the kids really swam in it.

Even the Dads put on their swimsuits and got in. How cool are they? Actually, given the water temperature, they were very cool! Ha Ha.

Because it's the "off-season" for swimsuits, I'm not posting photos of the Dads. (even though they looked just fine!)

The Mommies chose to stay dry, to be the official photographers and enjoy Limoncellos by the pool.

Smart Mommies!

Cold Little Polar Bears!!

What could make the day more special?

It was Hayden's birthday!!

Thanks for letting us share your special day - and your new pool!!!

We love you, buddy!

The girls in their après swim attire.

Plans are already being made for the 2nd Annual Polar Bear Swim in 2010!

Who Knew??

By the way, I had to share a discovery we made while decorating Christmas cookies at my family's house. You know those little silver balls that you use to decorate cookies?

Check this out...

Do you see it yet?

Here, look at the side of the bottle.

I'm sorry... Did you say "non-edible"?

I have been eating these on my Christmas cookies my whole life. And now, at 39, I finally notice they are "non-edible"??? What??

We left them off the cookies this year, but I'm pretty sure they'll be back next year. I mean, come on, the bell cookies just don't look right without the silver balls as the clapper. And don't get me started about the fact that the wreath cookies look positively bland without them!

Catching up...

Happy 2009!

Wow, did I get lost in the "busy-ness" of Christmas! I had so many good intentions for updates, and had fun photos to share, but the ol' blog kept getting shifted lower and lower on the priority list as Christmas approached. It's good to be getting back into the old routine. So, here's what we've been up to...

We rang in the New Year in San Antonio.

We had so much fun. More about that coming soon.

First, an update on Christmas...

Visiting my family:
We went to San Antonio to visit my family. We went out to the Hyatt Hill Country Resort to look at the Christmas decorations.

Then we went back to the house and decorated Christmas cookies

and had the family gift exchange.

Brough's favorite??

Martian Matter! Thank you, Aunt Shannon!!

It was a great day of hanging out and enjoying being together!

Next, on to Pat's folks:

The train was set up under the tree, as always.

The kids only derailed it 3 times this year!!

If you look closely near Brough's knees, you'll see a dinosaur getting knocked off the track by the engine.

Much of the evening was spent tracking Santa on NORAD.

When we first logged on, Santa was in Ireland. The kids followed him to the Azores, Cape Verde, the South Georgia Islands, and through some of South America. When Santa hit Canada, Brough went on Red Alert and we had to head home!!

Becca's favorite gift of the day?

a GINORMOUS dog from Uncle Kevin.

Really, you can't imagine how big this dog is.

Christmas Day at Home:

How much do I love that their favorite gifts were

Hungry, Hungry Hippos and...

Operation!!!!

I'm tellin' ya, they're classics for a reason!!

We loved them as kids (right, Shannon??) and now our kids love them.

For the 3rd year, we spent a wonderful, peaceful Christmas at home, just the 4 of us. It gives us a chance to make sure that once the frenzied fun of opening the gifts is over, we spend some time together cuddled up on the couch talking, laughing and remembering what - and who - Christmas is all about.

And of course, just before bed, we gather together to watch...

I hope your Christmas was filled with joy and many blessings!